PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY (life insurance and will making)

Monkey Dad and I aren’t married. We’ve got nothing against wedlock, it’s just that, at first, we never quite felt grown up enough to take that step.  

Then we bought a flat… then we had Big Sis… then we had Lil Sis… then we moved house and undertook a big renovation…

Before we knew it we’d been together for 12 years, and it just didn’t seem like that big a deal anymore. Most of the time we don’t even think about the fact we weren’t actually hitched because, well, we were as good as, weren’t we? 

No, actually; not even close. 

We were in the process of buying our first flat together when we discovered a sobering fact: it didn’t matter that we’d already been a couple for five years at that stage, or that we planned to have a family, and spend the rest of our lives together. 

The fact we weren’t legally married, and neither of us had a will, meant that if one of us died the other had absolutely no legal claim to their estate. Instead all our money and assets would go to our closest living relative (for most people that’s their parents or children, but in absence of immediate family your worldly possessions could end up with third-cousin Henry, who you’ve never even met!). 

So we were buying a home together, but if I died my half of the flat would have gone to my parents, not Monkey Dad. Of course they’d never have actually laid claim to ‘their half’ but, still, it made us realise how vulnerable we were. 

That was our wake-up call to grow up, and protect ourselves and each other. We both took our life insurance policies with AVIVA, then had wills drawn up leaving all our (meagre) assets to each other. We included a clause for our future children (who, of course, are now actual children!). 

Talking about your own death isn’t pleasant, but if that freaks you out, think about how your family will cope if something happens to you, and you don’t have life insurance in place. Will your partner be able to pay the mortgage and bills on their own? And what will happen if they can’t??

As uncomfortable as it is to discuss, preparing a will is one of the most important things you can do to safeguard your family. 

I’m not planning on going anywhere for a LONG time yet, but  it’s reassuring to know that, should the worst happen, Monkey Dad and the girls are protected. 

Isn’t that what being a good parent is about?

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